Is this computer worth anything?

Rich_S

Rich_S

HomeGrownToneBrewologist
... in terms of re-purposing it for recording, I mean?

We're replacing the family desktop machine. I'm not sure why; five out of six family members already have their own dedicated laptop, so the new desktop machine will make seven computers for six people.

Anyway the "old" desktop (tower, actually) is a 6-year-old Dell, 300 GB hard drive, Core 2 6300 @1.85 GHz, 1 GB of RAM. I haven't yet looked inside to see how that RAM is distributed, or whether there are extra memory slots. I already has a Firewire port

It's running Windows Media Center, but that's easy enough to fix. I'm thinking reload it with Windows 7, clean off everything but the basics, and then load a recording package and some outboard hardware. I would shut off or severly limit any Internet access, to keep the kids from junking it up with free games and the attendant malware.

This would be for small-scale home recording, mostly for my son to learn on, plus maybe some equipment demos bys yours truly. We're not looking to re-make "Aja".

Worth the time/effort/money, or start over with something else?

What upgrades would you recommend?

What sort of recording hardware should we look at to get us started? (Keep it simple... the last recording I engineering was on 4-track cassette.)
 
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Re: Is this computer worth anything?

Max out the RAM, either 4GB or 8GB (you'll need to look up that model), add a second hard drive. It'll do just fine for light recording work. Run Reaper, and grab a used firewire interface. The M-Audio 410 was a great unit for me for years, and could be found in the $125-ish range.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

For what it's worth one of my music machines is a P3 1Ghz with 512 RAM. You can use it but you won't get a ton of effects.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

The biggest issue is it being a DELL - they don't make it easy to upgrade sometimes. And, just a thought but since (assuming from the fact that you are looking to start recording) you don't have a plethora of outboard hardware like distressors and other rack effects, you'll need to rely on the virtual plug-ins. And that machine won't be able to handle many.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

For an audio interface, take a look at the M-Audio Delta 2496. So long as you have a spare PCI slot, and most PC's do have, you can get some great quality recording done. What's more they are very low cost in comparison to a USB or FireWire option. The only thing it doesn't have is pre-amps, but I got past that by feeding the card via a small mixer.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

you'll need to rely on the virtual plug-ins. And that machine won't be able to handle many.
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if there's a will there's a way. I just bounce down things to audio files, like synth tracks, and processor intensive effected tracks. In the digital world you don't loose much. As a practice I render all instruments to audio files for one it insures I have the sound I created and it frees up resources. Then run reverbs and delays as bus effects globally.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

Rich_S said:
Is that an obsolete model? Sweetwater lists several Delta models, but no 2496. How does it line up feature-wise with the current models? http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=m-audio+delta&go=Search
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Yes/No it was a gamer card not a pro audio interface like the obsolete interfaces you linked. It wasn't even made for normal studio use and I'd get something newer. The features a lot of the newer designs are more suitable for plugging in guitars and mics. The M-audio stuff I would avoid in general. Their driver support is terrible.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

Rich_S said:
Is that an obsolete model? Sweetwater lists several Delta models, but no 2496. How does it line up feature-wise with the current models? http://www.sweetwater.com/store/search.php?s=m-audio+delta&go=Search
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Not according to M-Audio it's not, as it's still listed - http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496.html - I've no idea on what basis it's being characterised as a gamers card either. That's not how M-Audio describe it, and I've not seen it reviewed or described that way before.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

Chris of Arabia said:
Not according to M-Audio it's not, as it's still listed - http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496.html - I've no idea on what basis it's being characterised as a gamers card either. That's not how M-Audio describe it, and I've not seen it reviewed or described that way before.
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It's format is just like a standard gaming sound card. It was supposed to be a hi-end sound card for PC's as opposed to a music workstation. RCA jacks are nearly useless for what most of us around here would do with one.
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

innerdreamrecords.co said:
I have this card, it's been a work horse. Most of my sounds are generated in the computer though.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile192.html
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Again, that's part of the same Audiophile series, like the 1010 which I also have. My 2496 was bought in 2001 I think and has been in 3 different PC builds, the first two under XP, and now Windows 7 (64 bit). For my usage, it's been absolutely rock solid and I've never had any significant driver issues - I've just updated as newer versions have come along. From recollection, most people have driver issues when they don't follow the advice to uninstall the old drivers first; I've fallen foul of that myself in the past, but that's just a case of RTFM...
 
Re: Is this computer worth anything?

Chris of Arabia said:
Again, that's part of the same Audiophile series, like the 1010 which I also have. My 2496 was bought in 2001 I think and has been in 3 different PC builds, the first two under XP, and now Windows 7 (64 bit). For my usage, it's been absolutely rock solid and I've never had any significant driver issues - I've just updated as newer versions have come along. From recollection, most people have driver issues when they don't follow the advice to uninstall the old drivers first; I've fallen foul of that myself in the past, but that's just a case of RTFM...
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No, it's well documented that M-Audio can't get their 64-bit drivers working for their old Delta series units (as of last year when I got a new interface). Check out their forums. They may have finally released a working driver, I couldn't care less at this point. And I don't appreciate your implications that any issues I spoke of were user error. It always irritates me when forum users repeatedly push a low-end product for no good reason other than because they have one themselves regardless of whether a recommendation was solicited or whether it meets the criteria of the OP's ideas.
 
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